experience an evening of gorgeous harmonies, enhanced
by the crystalline acoustics of the MSU Riley Center’s his-
toric Victorian theater.
May 28
MSU RILEY CENTER
FILM SERIES: FIDDLIN’
WITH FILM DIRECTOR
JULIE SIMONE
7:30 p.m., MSU Riley
Center
Tickets: General Admission,
$12; Season Pass, $36
Director Julie Simone will
present her film Fiddlin’,
a heartening, toe-tapping
tribute to a famed tradition-
al music festival and those
who love it. She got per-
mission to film at the Old
Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, Virginia, because she grew
up nearby, and the guys at the local Moose Lodge (which
runs the festival) knew her grandpa. Her affection for the
players (including some astonishingly virtuosic preteens),
the fans, and the music itself warms every scene.
For fans of: bluegrass and old-time music, documenta-
ries, fiddles and guitars
June 18
MSU RILEY CENTER
FILM SERIES: SONG OF
BACK AND NECK
WITH WRITER AND
DIRECTOR PAUL
LIEBERSTEIN
7:30 p.m., MSU Riley Center
Tickets: General Admission,
$12; Season Pass, $36 A
fling with a client of the law
firm where he works gives
downtrodden paralegal
Fred Trolleycar a chance to
relieve not only his excru-
ciating back and neck pain
but also his paralyzing
loneliness. Will this clumsy,
sweet, hilarious love story have a happy ending? Writer,
director, producer, and star Paul Lieberstein (who played
sad-sack human relations officer Toby in The Office) will
attend the screening.
For fans of: The Office, situation comedies, romantic
comedies
www.meridianstar.com
July 16
MSU RILEY CENTER FILM
SERIES: GAMBLE ROGERS
DOWN AT THE TERMINAL
TAVERN
With the film’s directors, Bill
and Melissa Sykes
7:30 p.m., MSU Riley Center
Tickets: General Admission,
$12; Season Pass, $36
Gamble Rogers was an
influential folk singer and
songwriter, and a teller of
wry stories about what he
called “raffish” Florida char-
acters. He died tragically at
age 54. The new documentary
Gamble Rogers: Down at the
Terminal Tavern celebrates this unjustly neglected trou-
badour. Filmmakers Bill and Melissa Shepard Sykes (who
will attend the screening) interviewed the likes of Jimmy
Buffett, who says, “He was a musician’s musician, and he
was an entertainer’s entertainer.”
For fans of: Jimmy Buffett, Jim Stafford, Jerry Clower
Aug. 20
MSU RILEY CENTER
FILM SERIES: RAISING
BUCHANAN
With star and executive
producer Amanda Melby
7:30 p.m., MSU Riley
Center
Tickets: General
Admission, $12; Season
Pass, $36
Ruth Kiesling, a low-
wage doughnut shop
employee with a sardon-
ic sense of humor and
anger issues, steals the
body of pre-Civil War
President James Buchanan
and holds it for ransom.
Unfortunately, nobody wants the not exactly revered
statesman back. René Auberjonois and M. Emmet Walsh
co-star. This hilariously deadpan dark comedy has won
awards at several U.S. and European film festivals. The
screening will feature an appearance by lead actress/exec-
utive producer Amanda Melby.
For fans of: the Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino, indie
films
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